Kil'jaeden
=Biography= First in the ranks of the Eredar, the demon lord Kil’jaeden is as vile as he is powerful. Selected by Sargeras as his champion, Kil'jaeden was responsible for the enslavement of the Dreadlords to the will of the fallen Titan, and their leader, Tichondrius, vowed to follow Kil'jaeden's dark agenda of assimilating every race possible into the folds of the Burning Legion. The Legion's maleficence swallowed world after world, leaving nothing but fire and destruction in their wake. Though Archimonde was given much credit, the Legion would never had done it had Kil'jaeden not done his job so nefariously well. Kil'jaeden never invades worlds directly; rather, he and the Dreadlords eat away at the world, slowly corrupting it from within. Though much slower (and less satisfying to most demons) than Archimonde's favored method, it is chillingly effective nonetheless. Kil'jaeden soon found a power of great potential: the Orcish Horde. How he located the orcs is essentially a mystery. Some say he located them by accident, but some of the Dragons suspect that Kil'jaeden began searching for the orcs after Broxigar injured Sargeras at the final battle in the War of the Ancients. Going straight to the Horde's most respected leader, Kil'jaeden promised the elder shaman, Ner'zhul, power and longevity that rivaled the Titans themselves if he vowed the orcs to Kil'jaeden's will. Ner'zhul quickly accepted. However, soon it became apparent that Ner'zhul lacked the ambition and defiance to successfully carry out these plans, and Ner'zhul, beginning to realize what the pact would do to the Horde, refused Kil'jaeden any assistance, and so Kil'jaeden turned to a budding orc, whose practices in dark sorcery had begun already: The warlock known as Gul'dan. Gul'dan's indomitable lust for power and his selfish disregard of anything but himself made him the perfect pawn for the demon. Mannoroth's blood was given to the orc chieftains, and they degraded into a bloodlust that destroyed the Draenei. Kil’jaeden, like the rest of the Eredar warlocks, felt the power of Medivh when he began his astral roaming. If Kil'jaeden is indeed as powerful as has been rumored, he would have sensed that Sargeras now directed the Last Guardian, and manipulated Gul'dan into sending the Orcs into Azeroth. His agendas were fulfilled as the Horde made their way into Azeroth, spreading their dark, demonic energies wherever they went. They heralded the destruction that would wipe out any resistance that could be offered to defend against the Legion, destroying the Kingdom of Stormwind, almost completely subjugating Khaz Modan, and enslaving the mighty Alexstrasza. However, Gul'dan, of all people, facilitated their fall in the Second War by seeking out the Tomb of Sargeras. As if that wasn’t enough, a young, revolutionary orc named Thrall began to re-examine the shamanistic traditions of his ancestors, making the demonic presence in Azeroth a minimum. The orcs had failed. Kil'jaeden, infuriated, knew that the time had come to take matters into his own hands. Recalling Nathrezim experiments with undead during the War of the Ancients, and realizing that it was individual choice that led to the downfall of the Orcs (the betrayals of the Stormreavers and the Laughing Skulls), he formulated a most sinister plan: Why not create an army of enslaved undead, under the control of a single cunning mind cowed in fear to the Legion? Calling in an unpaid vendetta, the Deceiver found Ner’zhul within the Twisting Nether, and, seeking for vengeance against the shaman's defiance, tortured the orc for an impossibly long time, destroying his body piece by piece until finally, nothing remained but the shaman's tortured soul. Kil'jaeden offered the remnant of the soul a choice: remain in eternal pain in the Eredar torture dimension, or become the ruler of an army of undeath. Ner'zhul, predictably, chose the latter, and was transformed into the Lich King. Recalling Ner'zhul's previous duplicity and Gul'dan's failure, Kil'jaeden took no chances whatsoever. He refused to give the Lich King a body, instead sealing specially forged armor into a gigantic crystal along with the Lich King's soul. And, just in case Ner'zhul wasn't daunted by immobility, dispatched the Dreadlords to make sure he stayed on task. The Lich King was to succeed where the orcs had failed, His undead servants would wipe out any potential resistance, and raise the unfortunate spirits as undead legions. The Scourge was just that, and wiped out Quel'Thalas and much of Lordaeron before Archimonde first arrived. However, the Lich King betrayed the Legion by facilitating the death of Tichondrius, and by extension the fall of Archimonde. Kil'jaeden, again infuriated, then went about to acquire a new pawn. He found Illidan, and told him that, despite his part in the Legion's downfall, The Deceiver was willing to offer him one last chance at power. Illidan was informed that if he destroyed the Frozen Throne, thus killing the Lich King, that Kil'jaeden would reward him with everything he'd ever hoped for (whether or not Kil'jaeden actually intended to do so is a moot point). But Illidan, thanks to his brother, failed to destroy Icecrown, wasting time rescuing Tyrande instead of inventing a new course of action, and fled to Outland, actually defeating Magtheridon and destroying the dimensional gates to keep Kil'jaeden and his minions out. But Kil'jaeden was no fool. Since Magtheridon had been granted dominion over Outland, Kil'jaeden kept half an eye on the backwater (possibly searching for any signs of the Alliance Expedition and the Book of Medivh). Quickly uncovering what had happened, he appeared to Illidan and commanded him to return to Northrend to finish what he had started (as his new servitors showed "some promise"), and that if he failed again, Kil'jaeden would hunt him down, and he would have nowhere to run. For now, however, Illidan has failed, and the Lich King persists, having cheating The Deceiver by possessing Arthas. However, Kil'jaeden, being an ever-scheming Eredar, likely had another plan in waiting. He rarely appears to personally take part in battles and is looked at as cowardly by those foolish enough to doubt his power. He is said to be more powerful than even Archimonde and has an extremely devious and intellegent mind rivaling that of Sargeras himself. With Sargeras incorporeal and Archimonde dead, Kil'jaeden, as the single most powerful corporeal demon in the universe, has probably taken complete control of the Legion. Thanks to http://www.lunarfalls.com/WarCraft/character_hk.html#K www.lunarfalls.com! =Species= In the Warcraft II manual, Kil'jaeden was portrayed as a daemon, the infernal creature of the early games. Despite the clearly drawn image, Kil'jaeden was established as a member the Eredar species in the Warcraft III manual, and his appearance, that of a hulking Eredar Warlock with blood-red skin and burning eyes, was established in The Frozen Thone campaign, Curse of the Blood Elves. Shadows & Light explains that both depictions are true and that Kil'Jaeden can appear in different forms as it suits him. A picture in the book shows him to have a combination of Daemon, and Eredar features. Category:Game Characters Category:Lore Characters Category:Major Characters Category:Burning Legion Category:Demons